An Uneasy Peace in Mosul

At the Jumhuriya Hospital in Mosul, the victims trickled in in taxis, in
private cars, in pickups, sometimes in ambulances. The story at the
hospital was that American forces had fired into a crowd near the
government building in the center of town. A U.S. spokesman calls the
building a "sanctuary" where different groups can come and plan Iraq's
future government. But the 250 Marines barricaded there have come under
fire twice in the last two days, and in both cases returned deadly fire.
The victims, Iraqis say, were civilians.

In the pouring rain outside the emergency room at the hospital, family
members of those killed and injured in Wednesday's fight, as well as
witnesses, stood watching the victims come in. One man entered limping,
a friend holding him up. "The Americans were shooting recklessly,
without any reason," said one man in the crowd. Ziad Mohammed said his
brother had been hit from 1000 yards away while he was tending his shoe
shop.

An old man was brought in in a wheelchair, blood caked on his face and
a keffiyeh wrapped around his head. "He was on a bus, a civilian bus
and the Americans shot him," said Yunis Yasin Suleyman.

It was hard to separate fact from fiction with these men, and some of
their claims were outlandish  that Saddam Hussein had been in Mosul on
April 9 and U.S. troops had knowingly let the dictator slip into Syria,
that Americans were stealing historical artifacts, that the Americans
were shooting at ambulances. But what is clear is that the two shooting
incidents have put America on the defensive in its campaign to convince
the people of Mosul that the Americans are on their side.

A white pickup rolled up, and the crowd got silent. A body wrapped in a
yellow-and-orange blanket was lifted out of the bed. A nurse tried to
dump out the puddles that had collected on the plastic mattress of a
gurney and the body was lifted onto it. "He was 70 years old," said one
of the crowd. "A martyr."

In all, according to doctors at the hospital, three were killed and ten
wounded. The day before eight were killed and ten wounded in another
clash at the square.

Dr. Ayad Jamin, an anesthesiologist, said medical supplies were so low
only the worst cases got anesthesia when they were operated on. Less
serious cases, like Ziad Mohammed's brother, were simply sent home.

"We just want the Americans to leave," Mohammed said. "We will sacrifice our
blood and be martyrs. If they don't leave, everyone will be a bomb in
the face of the Americans."

At the Mosul Airport, where the Americans are based, a spokesman denied
that the Americans had fired indiscriminately. "When we received well
aimed fire, we returned well aimed fire," said Capt. James Jarvis of the
26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which came yesterday to back up the
Special Forces already here. "As of right now, coalition forces are well in control of the city," he said, allowing that "we're in a period of instability."

One commander of the Kurdish peshmerga forces, was more frank. "In
other cities there was fighting and Saddam's men were either killed or
ran away," said Omed Mohammed. The Americans and Kurds entered the city
without a fight last Friday, but now are finding that their victory was
hollow. "Here there was no war so the fedayeen [Saddam, Uday's paramilitary fighting force] and other members of the
security are still here. They just don't go to their offices, but hide
in their homes." The famously brave peshmerga won't go to many Arab neighborhoods. "We're afraid," Mohammed said.

People in Mosul were the most pro-Saddam in Iraq  some say even more so
than in Tikrit, his famously loyal hometown. Iraq's third-largest city,
Mosul is also known as the biggest source of Iraqi army officers. Other
cities in Iraq have graffiti like "Thank you Mr. Boush and Mr. Blear."
Here, instead, there are Iraqi flags flying defiantly at mosques and
vigilante checkpoints.

Dropping into Arab neighborhoods in the center reveals a deep hatred for
America and affection for Saddam Hussein. There is also bitterness at
the role of the Kurdish peshmerga in securing this majority Arab city.
When a small convoy of American Humvees rolls by the residents silently
watch. But when the convoy is out of sight the hate is palpable.
"America and Britain promised to give us democracy and stability but
they haven't done it," said one resident. "The Kurds came and destroyed
our city," shouted another. Before long they are chanting "Down Down
Bush! Long Live Saddam!"

Jarvis, the Marine spokesman, said residents of Mosul are coming to the
airport to give tips on locations of fedayeen forces or other bad guys,
and that Special Forces troops are conducting raids. He declined to say
if those raids are bearing fruit. In the meantime, the Americans are trying to woo local leaders into
working with them to form a provisional authority. One is Sheik Ibrahim
Ata Allah al-Juburi, chief of the Juburi tribe which claims 10 million
Iraqis "from Zakho to Basra," al-Jubiri said. He receives visitors in a
tent erected in front of his house; the tent has ceiling fans, a
telephone, a television with satellite receiver and a rectangular
sectional couch measuring 100 feet. He kills three sheep a day to serve
his many guests; tonight it was steaming platters of mutton, potatoes
and rice.

He said he was the one to thank for the Americans entering Mosul without
a fight. He, as a tribal chief, was one of the few Iraqis privileged
enough to have a satellite dish. Watching al-Jazeera, he realized the
war was not going as his government was saying. When he saw that U.S.
forces were getting closer to Mosul, he started calling on government
officials urging them to see the writing on the wall and agree to let
the Americans in. Then he made contact with the Americans, traveling to
meet one group just inside the border of the Kurdish-controlled areas
between Duhok and Mosul. "We saved Mosul," he said.

Al-Juburi said the shooting incidents would not have long-term effects
on the authority of American troops, as long as they kept their
promises. "They are our friends and we expect them to give us democracy
and security, to rebuild us and not destroy us." He said the Americans
have come twice to his tent and he likes what he hears. "I have the idea
that they have pure intentions, they just want to get rid of Saddam
Hussein and establish security here."